Exaltica: Eden Awakening Saga, Sin Denial Options

[Ganonfrog]

Jun stopped moving again as the gun was mentioned. Still keeping his grip tight on Aiko, he slowly turned back to look at the source of the question. His eyes were narrowed, to the point that it was obvious to anyone that he was now in a worse mood than ever. He stared her down for a time, saying nothing for a good couple of seconds.

"... Yeah. That's mine." He eventually lied, "Put it back in my pocket for me. I don't have any free hands."

(If Arel does as he says, he carries on to 4th Deck.)

[Nicsp]

Lars shrugged, since no one else volunteered he decided to take the dead crewman's gun himself, despite not really ever have learning how to use one, he had watched them being used in movies, hopefully that'd be enough. Other than that, he simply walked on with the rest of the group, an optimistic smile on his face at all times.

[Hirei]

Arel wordlessly deposited the gun back into Jun's pocket. Even though she was a bit wary of how he reacted, there were dangers on this ship and the more firepower they had the better of they would be.

Arel continued walking with the group until they reached the fourth deck. The door opened with a creak as she shoved it aside.

This post has been edited by Hirei: Mar 22 2011, 05:46 PM

[Sailerius]

The group travels down the cold stairwell to deck four. As soon as they pull the door open, a blast of warm air rushes out from inside, knocking anyone who was standing too close to the door onto the floor. The oxygen down here is much easier to breathe, allowing them to relax, a little.

Stepping through the door onto the fourth deck, they enter a short hallway with an intersection; the door on the right led to the engine room and the door on the left led to the hangar.

The engine room
Save for the emergency lights on the floor, the engine room is completely dark. None of the equipment was functional; the engine, the generators, and the consoles to control them were all failing to operate. Aside from the curious lack of functionality, nothing here suggests that the equipment was damaged; there's no sign of blood, gunshots, or broken machinery. The only aspect of the room that appears out of place is the fact that in the wall around the engine, there are eight circular openings which are roughly five feet in diameter and seven feet deep. Each opening has a round hatch attached to it, each of which is wide open, allowing one to ascertain that the openings were, in fact, empty.

The hangar
As one might expect, the hangar is huge, occupying most of the fourth deck. A dozen vessels are docked in the hangar, including the vessels that Zhi/Jun, Aiko, and Nate last remember boarding. That's not what was most noteworthy about the hangar, however...

The smallest (and most unusual) of the vessels in the hangar is a wreck. It's hard to tell what shape it had originally because most of it has been disassembled and is lying in a heap around the largest piece of the vessel. The hull of the vessel is covered in scorch marks and burns as well as being pockmarked with bullet holes. Furthermore, one can hardly tell what color it was originally, because the machine is caked in blood from top to bottom. A close look at what was probably once a wing reveals a logo underneath the grotesque splashes of blood: Oraph.

[Hirei]

"I"m gong to take a look at the engine room. If some folks want to go check out the hangar you can." Arel announced this before running off to the engine room.

Once inside the room, Arel proceeded to take a look around...but upon first sight Arel knew that the prognosis was not good: none of the consoles were functioning. However the main thing that caught her eye were the open hatches in the wall around the engine. Walking towards the engine she realized what was wrong upon closer inspection of the holes.

"Damn.....this is worse than I thought....the ER cores which are used to produce an ER shield are missing. Without the ER shield this ship would pretty much explode in the Nexus. There should be no reason to take it away from the engine room..." The machines around her seemed to have taken no damage at all either.

What exactly happened here?!

[Ganonfrog]

Jun headed into the hanger after reaching the fork, but found himself stopping near the door, immediately after getting into view of the ship that brought him here. He scowled even further, tightening his grip on Aiko even more.

"Those bastards... so they did bring us here." He snarled, "They were planning to kill us from the beginning..."

Zhi stepped up behind Jun not long after hearing him speak up. She carefully placed a hand on his shoulder in attempt to comfort him, but her face quickly wound up betraying it. Her eyes had drifted away from the transport shuttle, and toward the wreck of a ship beside it.

"Jun... I don't think they meant to kill us." She whispered, her voice filling with dread. "There's... something that got onto this ship."

Jun's attention quickly snapped to what his sister was talking about, only to be broken by his lack of willingness to believe what he was seeing.

"... This..." He attempted to speak, but his nerves got in the way. There was nothing sensible he could say about what was going on anymore.

Fortunately, Zhi interrupted him before he could make any more attempts, by pulling him away from the wreck. "We need to go. At least one of these ships must still be functional. Arel, Lars, can either of you pilot?" She looked back from her near-panicked sibling, and back over to the others. Her fear from earlier had disappeared, and was no replaced with sheer determination to escape.

[Ereth]

Aiko noticed two things upon coming to: she had a massive headache, and Jun was carrying her. Everything was a blur. Wait. Why was Jun carrying her!?

"What happened? Where am I? Put me down! Um, that is . . . put me down, please," Aiko squeaked.

She felt like crying. What had she done? There had to be a reason for this. And it couldn't be good.

This post has been edited by Ereth: Mar 26 2011, 09:44 PM

[Hirei]

Arel turned around to see that...no one was with her in the room. Ah...quite embarrassing.... She headed out of the room and towards the hangar where the rest were gathered.

They were gathered around a wreck and it seemed that Aiko had regained consciousness.

"Sorry, I asked Jun to carry you while we made our way towards the 4th deck. You were freaking out or something." Arel knelt down to take a look at the wreckage. It was a ship unlike she had never seen before. A part of her wished that there were more time to fully examine or possibly even repair the vessel....

But unfortunately there was not time for such leisurely things.

"Well we can't stay on this ship for longer, I found out that the ER cores were taken from the engine room. No idea why....so hopefullly some of these ships are intact and in working condition."

[Ganonfrog]

Jun nearly dropped Aiko as soon as she woke up, mostly out of surprise. When she started shouting and panicking again, however, he managed to regain his senses enough to keep his grip. It was clear that she really wanted to be let go, but after her recent behavior, and the theories he was beginning to form, he found it a bit difficult to just free her, and let her do whatever she wanted.

He had her gun now, though, so, really, if she wanted to hurt them so badly, he could just fight back. With the way she's been, he wouldn't be surprised if she got disturbed by the sight of him pointing her own weapon at her.

With those thoughts in mind, he hesitantly lowered the girl back to her own feet, and stepped back. He didn't say anything as he did so, and felt no desire to speak on the matter any further until the two of them got a chance to be alone.

At least, until Arel gave her half-assed explanation of what happened back there. As much as he didn't want to make an immediate scene, he really just couldn't stand the idea of letting her think that she just panicked back there.

"Freaking out? More like you had a complete mental breakdown. You were screaming something about being you, and then collapsed like a ragdoll. It was creepy as all hell." He explained with a bite to his words.

----------------

Once Zhi noticed Aiko waking up, and Arel's agreement to the idea of taking one of the shuttles, she began to make her way to the most familiar one. She approached the door to the shuttle she arrived in, and tested the door to see if it would open. If given entry, she would step in, and start looking around for signs of functionality.

[Ereth]

She could remember them now. The colors. The faces and voices of the dead. And now Arel and Jun---well, Jun more than Arel, because Arel seemed to pity her enough to be nice---were telling her she went crazy. All she could do was stammer an apology.

"I'm sorry . . . I don't know what happened. I just heard voices in my head, and . . . "

This wouldn't do. I mustn't panic, she thought. Aiko took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm herself. "Thank you, everyone, for . . . helping me."

[Sailerius]

The shuttle appears to be fully operational.

[Hirei]

Arel did her best to flash a friendly smile as she walked past Aiko . "Not a problem...best if we help each other out in this type of situation anyways." And not act like total assholes like that Jun person or whatever. Bro always said that an army who works together will come out victorious in a war.

Arel watched as Zhi approached one of the shuttles and the door opened. A sigh of relief escaped from Arel....not only was it functional but she had experience piloting this vessel before. The navigator took no hesitation in entering the ship and making herself comfortable in the main pilot's chair.

Arel took a moment to take in the details of the ship's main control panels. After a few seconds, she placed both hands on the navigational panels and began to initiate the startup sequence. Her hands were flying from one button to the next as she mentally made a checklist of the startup routine and navigational calibrations that she wanted to use. a small screen popped up in front of her that continued to spit out data.

"Everything checks out fine. The navigational system seems to be in order as well." Arel pressed another button to bring up the ship's navigational screens. She bit her lip as she processed the information.

"From what I can see....we may be better off heading towards the Nexus Node, there should be a nearby colony called Eutocius." She gestured at a dot that was flashing on the screen.



This post has been edited by Hirei: Mar 28 2011, 06:52 PM

[Sailerius]

After spending some time becoming acquainted with the shuttle's controls, Arel manages to lift off from the sinking ship's hangar, leaving the vessel behind to serve as the dead crew's coffin, adrift in space.

This shuttle's engine is thankfully undamaged, allowing them to relax and breathe freely. The passengers - Arel, Aiko, Nate, Lars, Jun, and Zhi - spend a day resting and recuperating while the shuttle carries them to the colony of Eutocius.

Eutocius is a small, crowded, and urban colony afloat in space with its most prominent feature being the huge metal ring attached to it, the Nexus Node. The Eutocius Nexus Node is what connects Morgan and its people to the rest of the universe. Without it, supplies and people would be unable to travel to and from the countless other worlds humanity has inhabited. Not without spending decades (or even centuries) in cryogenic sleep aboard a conventional ship.

Arel manages to guide the shuttle into the Eutocius spaceport. As soon as they finish docking, UF immigration officials swarm the ship, which had performed an illegal and unscheduled docking. A burly looking man carrying an automatic weapon demands the "crew" of the shuttle gather.

"Who are you and where did you acquire this vessel?"

[Nicsp]

Lars entered the ship, although a bit unwillingly, he wanted to find out what had happened in there before they left. But oh well, at least he'd be alive a bit longer and that works too. Paying little attention to the others, he simply went in search of a place where he could rest and dozed off in there for the rest of the trip, the topic of how the crew of that ship died and how they even got there not leaving his mind even for a single moment. He only snapped out of thought when they docked and he realized the ship being surrounded by officials. Lars let out a long pained sigh and then comments to himself. "This is gonna suck..."

Lars was about to walk out of the ship when he realized he was still carrying the gun from the dead crewman from earlier, for the sake of looking innocent, Lars decided to just leave it behind while he went to talk with the soldiers, just as they were walking out, he looked at his group and then sighed. Arel still had blood on her from earlier, Aiko could possibly just freak out like she did earlier, Jun was as gentle as a brick and Lars himself wasn't exactly a very charismatic looking figure with his crazy scientist features. "This is gonna suck..." He repeated with another sigh.

As soon as they met with the man, Lars stuttered a bit and then summarized to the best of his abilities, trying not to look at the rifle that the man was carrying. "Short version, we woke up in some bigger ship and found out everyone else in it was dead, so we got out on this shuttle. No, i don't really expect you to believe that, it is the truth, sadly. We're gonna get arrested, aren't we?" Lars dropped his head with yet another sigh.

[Sailerius]

The burly-looking man holding an assault rifle grits his teeth angrily and smacks Lars upside the head with the butt of his gun.

"That's bullshit! No ships were given leave from Morgan! Now tell me who you really are or--"

"That's enough," the man to his right, evidently a superior officer, interjects. "There was one ship which was given leave. It sounds like there was an incident on the Venerate. Take them to Major Jorich."

The guards escort the group to a checkpoint and leave them alone with two women in UF military uniforms. The one who was apparently in charge had dark hair drawn up into a bun and thin-rimmed glasses. An emblem on her uniform identified her as with Oraph.

"The Venerate was scheduled for Nexus dive at 3:45 PM this afternoon. I've been told that you might know something about why it hasn't." Major Jorich affixes her stern gaze upon each of them in turn.

***

The major's eyes widen as the explanation is concluded and she exchanges terrified looks with the other woman, a slightly-built brunette who, judging by the way she was taking notes on a PDA, was probably her secretary.

"Wasn't that the ship that--" the secretary started, only to be cut off by the major.

"Commandeer the supply ship that left here last night and have them commence a recovery operation."

"But, Major! It's delivering medical supplies for the Morgan relief effort!"

"There will be more supplies! We'll pay for replacements, God knows we have the budget for it. There are some things that can't be replaced."

"...Yes, ma'am," the secretary acknowledged, quickly leaving the room to make a call. As she left, the major turned her attention back to the group, regaining her composure.

"As for you, you'll be coming with us back to Erza as soon as that supply ship gets back. Until then, I'll have lodging arrangements made for you." True to her word, Major Jorich reserved three double bed rooms in a hotel in downtown Eutocius (who roomed with whom was a matter she left to them to squabble over). Although they had the rest of the day and night to themselves, two Oraph soldiers were stationed in the hotel lobby to accompany them if they wanted to leave the hotel premises.

For those who had never been off Morgan before, being in a colony was a surreal experience; the colony was contained within an artificial environment with a transparent dome that offered an unrestrained view into the solitary depths of space. Far off in the distance, a faint blue star indicated Archimedes. Occasionally, the empty sky is lit by a majestic golden light as the Nexus Node activated to allow ships passage.

[Hirei]

Arel took the time to use the hotel facilities, entering one of the rooms first. It seemed that no one else had come into the room yet. It was quite a luxurious room containing a mini-living room area, a large bathroom, and a fully equipped kitchenette.

However the pilot first went into the bathroom and taking a hot shower to rid herself of her aches and pains. As she stood under the shower she held her hands up to her face. Even though the blood was gone, she could still smell it. The images of the dead crewmembers of the Venerate vessel flashed through her mind.

"...To be a pilot...is to view the world and all of its events." Arel repeated these words that had been said by someone whom she held dear. Throughout the ordeal she had tried to put on a calm act...but in reality inside she was wavering . Her skills as a mechanic and pilot had indeed been invaluable or so she assumed, but she still doubted....

A few minutes passed as Arel scrubbed to wash away the blood on herself before stepping out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around herself, she glanced over at the pile of bloodied clothes before picking them up and hurling them unceremoniously into the sink. She let warm hot water flow onto the dirtied clothes before attacking them with a washcloth. Once most of the blood was out Arel wrung them before heading out of the bathroom.

Quietly she went over to the window and pulled it open. The breeze on her bare skin made her shiver, but the view...was amazing to her. The golden flashes of light that danced on the empty sky were beautiful. The stars seemed to shine brightly at her as she took a moment to reminisce on the journeys that she had taken. Another gust of wind reminded her to hurry up. Arel arranged the clothes onto the balcony's railing before heading inside and laying sprawled on the bed.

"Fwah..." The pilot exhaled to relieve some of the leftover tension that still remained. Her head tilted to the side to glance at the googles and the silver dogtag that rested on the small nightstand next to the bed. Reaching over, she picked up the tag, running her fingers over the engraved name.

This post has been edited by Hirei: Mar 31 2011, 09:47 PM

[Ereth]

Aiko knocked lightly on the door, not knowing what to expect. Everyone else was sharing rooms---Lars with Nate and Jun with his sister---so that left Arel. Aiko knew little about her, but she seemed friendly.

"Um . . . hello?"

She heard a noise that sounded like a muffled "Come in!" and entered the room. Arel was lying on the bed and was, from the looks of it, utterly exhausted. Aiko's presence barely registered. I won't disturb her. She must be tired after all that, Aiko thought. After a quick shower, the baker was back in her dress and apron and the foodstuffs she had collected on the ship were scattered all over the table in the kitchenette. Among these were: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, vegetable oil, cider vinegar and cocoa powder. Aiko had decided to make a simple chocolate cake. It wouldn't be nearly as sumptuous as the ones she had learned to bake at school, but she was determined to make it all the same.

This post has been edited by Ereth: Mar 31 2011, 10:31 PM

[Hirei]

Arel had eventually fallen asleep and didn't notice Aiko come in at all, but she heard shuffling noises coming from the kitchen.

I hope that bastard Jun didn't choose this room. Unconsciously, she turned over in the bed to face the balcony door, pulling up the light blanket that covered her up a little more...just in case.

The mechanic dreamt that she was floating in space, the stars twinkling above her as a ship loomed closer. Arel squinted to see the ship more closely as it came closer. A smell tickled her senses as the hulking vessel approached. It smelled oddly like cocoa....

[Ereth]

The cake was now in the oven to bake. In about ten more minutes, it would be done, much to Aiko's delight. She would dust it with the remaining sugar after it cooled, and her sleeping roommate would have the honor of eating the first piece.

"Then I can share with everyone else," Aiko said with a smile, "and we can all start feeling better . . . I hope." Waves of uncertainty and fear concerning what had happened on the ship still rippled through her, but she couldn't worry about that now. She had to push forward.

This post has been edited by Ereth: Mar 31 2011, 11:21 PM

[Ganonfrog]

(I'm so sorry for my lack of responses. I've had a really off week, and really just haven't been myself. I'm going to come into the chat again tomorrow, and you should all punch me then. Repeatedly. I'm such an idiot for holding this all back for all of you.

I'm also sorry that this post is a novel.)

The trip to Eutocius was quiet, boring, and uneventful, just how they liked it. With the threat of death looming over their heads for the past few days, the calm was more than invited.

As soon as they all were able to confirm that the ship was capable of running, Jun retreated to one of the cabins, and locked himself in. Seemingly unwilling to trust anyone who wasn't related to him, even when they escaped death together, and tired beyond comprehension, he was far from up to communicating with anyone that night. Any attempts at contacting him, even by his own sister, resulted in nothing but silence and the occasional object thrown at the door.

Zhi, on the other hand, was more than willing to keep the others company while they made their trip to the gate. Once they managed to leave the mysterious vessel they all woke up on, she calmed down significantly. When the ship was up and running, it was hard to tell that she had ever been panicked at all.

----------------------------------------

Zhi showed intense interest in the closed in architecture of Eutrocius, once they arrived. The place was completely artificial in every way, and felt nothing like a city, yet there was something strangely beautiful about it. Even in a society where space travel was common, nothing had ever felt so otherworldly to her as this.

Her brother, sadly, seemed a lot less interested in their surroundings. In fact, he seemed utterly depressed and detached. After everything that had happened, it wasn't hard to imagine why he would be feeling so off, but it did disturb her a little. He was usually antisocial, but this was on a completely different level than what she was used to. Did something happen on the vessel when she wasn't looking?

Before she could concern herself any further, however, her thoughts were interrupted by the sight that met her when she exited the ship. They were being surrounded, and not just by the docking crew. Were they hostile, or were they just thrown off by their unscheduled arrival?

"Who are you and where did you acquire this vessel?" One of the officers demanded of them, pointing a weapon directly at them.

Zhi considered taking the job of speaking for the group, recognizing herself as one of the few people here capable of diplomacy, but Lars wound up beating her to the punch. Before she could even consider chipping in at least a little, Lars' quick and none too well thought out response would up earning him a gun to the head, and quite a few angry looks. She hesitated, getting worried.

"That's enough. There was one ship which was given leave. It sounds like there was an incident on the Venerate. Take them to Major Jorich."

Major Jorich? They were being taken by the military for questioning? Wasn't that a little dramatic? Of course, considering what they'd gone through, maybe it would wind up being beneficial in the end.

Seeing no reason to not comply, she followed the others when they began to be taken away. Jun was forced into acceptance with the rest of them, mostly by restraint.

--------------------------------------

The Major, or whatever stupid title she had, rambled on for a long time about supply ships and Morgan. Jun could care less. All he wanted at this point was a nice, warm bed, and some much needed social isolation. The people he was being forced to deal with were really starting to make him uncomfortable, and this woman wasn't any better. He could care less if she killed enough people to get military status. It was no better than waving a gun at him, as far as he was concerned.

Their escort to the hotel couldn't have been more welcome, once it finally happened.

The others in the group split off into their room choices almost immediately, obviously taking their chances to not room with him. He didn't care. He was just as glad to not have to worry about them. Of course, that still left him rooming with his sister, but at least he was used to that. He'd been pretty distant toward her lately, anyways. Maybe it was the freedom? Either that, or it was just his brain being shaken up by the chaos. It was probably just the chaos.

Once they arrived in their room, Jun flopped straight onto the nearest bed, and took a long, hard look at the wall next to him. It was white, and kind of plastic-looking. Why did these places always try so hard to look shiny? It was kind of irritating. Better than metal and bloodstained, though. This place wasn't cold, and dank with that horrible stench... and he would never again have to see that one asshole who had the nerve to die to a bullet wound. The coward who just shot himself, using a gun just like the one in his pocket.

The one that crazy lady in the other room was carrying around. He just couldn't get it out of his head. If he had to keep travelling with that madwoman, there was no way he was going to let her go without answers. If he was going to wind up with a bullet through his brain, it would be by the hands of someone who hated him, not some manic nut case.

"Jun."

Before he could think any further, an all too familiar voice cut in, sounding far more concerned than he was comfortable with. With a sigh, he turned around, hoping that would be good enough to seem sociable. Like he could really tell.

"Yeah? What is it?" He mumbled in the same artificial tone he always did.

"Are you feeling okay?" Zhi sat down on the bed across from him, and looked down at him. It seemed pretty fitting. "After all that's happened, I can see why you'd be feeling like this, but... I am starting to get a little worried. You're quiet."

"I'm always quiet." He returned, sounding anything but dedicated to his excuse.

"Not this much. You'll normally at least complain to me."

"Oh, sorry, was I behind on that? Here. My home planet is on fire, the escape shuttle was a trap, I nearly died cold and alone, saw more dead people than stars, and am now being guarded by some jerkwads with guns in the company of some batshit crazy strangers. Is that recap enough?" He narrowed his eyes, and clenched a fist as he spoke, but his "voice" was as undedicated as before.

Zhi returned his answer with a deepened look of concern. It was obvious that she didn't believe him. What? Was she going to poking into the details now? Did she want to know just what he thought of those mauled corpses in the bridge? Maybe she was considering going back to their smoldering house so she could keep working on her god-damned fancy job. She was probably just upset because she wasn't above him anymore.

She wasn't above him anymore. She was just as homeless and he was, and she was just as scared on that ship as he could ever be.

Of course. Why else would he feel so willing to defy her? He didn't even realize it until now, but he had already started to do it.

Suddenly, Jun laughed. He laughed from the true, neglected depths of his own throat. It was scratchy, broken, and ever so enthusiastic.

Zhi stared back at him, her hand retreating to her chest, tense. She was scared.

"Jun?"

No reponse. She was only met with more laughter.

"Jun. I need to know what you're thinking. I don't want you to break down."

Finally, he stopped. With a quickly growing smile, he looked up into his sister's eyes. They were upset. She was genuinely worried. His smile dropped, and his gaze quickly followed. What was he thinking?

"... Sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'm probably just still shaken by everything that's been happening." He mumbled, back to his fake voice.

Zhi sighed in relief. "It's nothing to worry about. I understand. I think we all just need to get some rest. One night isn't nearly enough to clear all that's happened from our minds."

Yeah, sure. It'd take more than some extra sleep to shake this. Damn it, this was slowly making him as crazy as the cake chick, wasn't it?

This post has been edited by Ganonfrog: Apr 8 2011, 03:53 AM